Priestly Celibacy: Women & Encountering Mystery

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Father Joe

The priest also encounters women as pastoral subjects. They come to him for the sacraments, devotions, and counsel. It is within these meetings that the priest must have a sincere respect for mystery. I mean here not only the mystery of God and his saving intervention; but also, the mystery that is woman. Female friendships can give him insight into the female heart and mind; however, there are depths that are forever hidden to him which touch the divine. How could it be otherwise, given that women by design can so intimately cooperate with God in the work of creation? Men and women are not the same, despite efforts in our society to treat them interchangeably. Men and women who get married readily realize this. It represents a type of paradox. The more these couples live together, the more they appreciate the quality of mystery that cannot be penetrated. The celibate priest should both respect this mystery and see in it something of his yearning to know God. Priests study and pray as facets of their vocation, and yet, the deeper they understand God and his providence, the more they discover a mystery eluding their grasp. It has been said that God gave mankind two genders so that they might discover something of the divine otherness in each other.